PLEMS: Plug Load Energy Management Solution for Enterprises

Maximizing energy utilization is a key strategy for today's enterprise in their effort towards sustainable tomorrow. Energy accounts for 50% or more of operating profit and 60%of energy in enterprise is under utilized. Plug loads typically consume up to 50% of the overall electrical energy usage in an enterprise. Even though multiple solutions exist such as Building Management System (BMS) to monitor and control electrical energy at main level such as HVAC but there are no solutions that can detect, analyze and trigger automatic actions in real time at plug load points. The proposed solution for managing plug loads is called PLEMS which allows to monitor and control appliances connected to smart plugs in a policy adaptable way and extend the coverage of existing BMS to plug loads. PLEMS helps to identify the consumption pattern of any appliance using a weighted moving average model. New policies are proposed based on usage/budget along with time based policies to trigger actions that mitigate or minimize energy wastage. The solution allows unified monitoring across enterprise with energy integration dashboard. Two case studies which were carried out in our enterprise (on office appliances) proved that we can potentially save energy by up to 60% eventually leading to a reduction in carbon footprint. We showcased another case study to highlight the actual savings achieved from the same appliances by using adaptable policies.